jenniferballard3's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
5.0
rebekah_nobody's review against another edition
4.0
The font-stacking choices sometimes render the text unreadable, but for those who already know and like the poem each two-page spread promises its own visually rewarding interpretative experience.
ryliereadss's review
Too difficult to read, this was probably just meant to be a coffee table book. The pages are very cool to look at though.
crownoflaurel's review against another edition
2.0
I wanted to love this because illustration(!) but, sadly, it reminded me too much of something one of my illustration professors once said... that illustrators should never try to do typography. Some spreads do work beautifully, but the bulk of the book suffers from multiple issues that make it hard to track the poem. From the sameness of the typography, from switching upper and lower cases randomly, to how the pages are so completely filled, there's no empty space to rest the eye? And so on. Ultimately, I think this would have worked better if it had been reduced to a selection of lines from the poem, allowing those few spreads to shine, or if it had been in a different page format entirely, as the illustrator would have had more space to work within. Flipping the book around got rather tiring after a while.
bookarino's review
4.0
Whitman Illuminated is illustrator and artist Allen Crawford's take on the American classic A Song of Myself. The entire edition has been designed with bold two colour spreads illustrating various themes and details of the poem and with calligraphic text that winds, turns and twists on the page.
Song of Myself was my first introduction to Walt Whitman's poetry, and I was positively surprised! The themes of nature, love, death and beliefs are universal and the familiar, almost intimate tone of Whitman invites the reader to dive into the world and thoughts on the page. This edition is a unique piece as it provides both visual and literary enjoyment, but sometimes the visually pleasing layout comes with the expense of readability. Not knowing the poem beforehand sometimes caused problems, as I tried to decode where where the next lines started and ended and in which order they were meant to be read. Hence I would recommend this mostly to people who already know the poem and want a new angle to it, or to those are partial to words scattered on a page and love graphic prints and bold designs.
I definitely plan on re-reading Song for Myself, perhaps in conjuction his other works in the Leaves of Grass!
Song of Myself was my first introduction to Walt Whitman's poetry, and I was positively surprised! The themes of nature, love, death and beliefs are universal and the familiar, almost intimate tone of Whitman invites the reader to dive into the world and thoughts on the page. This edition is a unique piece as it provides both visual and literary enjoyment, but sometimes the visually pleasing layout comes with the expense of readability. Not knowing the poem beforehand sometimes caused problems, as I tried to decode where where the next lines started and ended and in which order they were meant to be read. Hence I would recommend this mostly to people who already know the poem and want a new angle to it, or to those are partial to words scattered on a page and love graphic prints and bold designs.
I definitely plan on re-reading Song for Myself, perhaps in conjuction his other works in the Leaves of Grass!
darwin8u's review
5.0
“Let your soul stand cool and composed
before a million universes.”
― Walt Whitman, Song of Myself
There are some books that are just MEANT to be illustrated. Where the poem seems part of the earth. Part of the poet. Part of the sky and the stars!
This book feels good. The binding is tight. The pages are thick. Even the cover contains multitudes. It is beautiful and rough. I rub it against my chin and it calms me. But wait. I haven't even opened the book yet.
I see Whitman as a Giant American; a giant American sphinx. Composed with grass. Posed with grass. Posed. Winged. Ready to fly.
I start to flip through pages. The pages seem to grab each other in prayer. Or perhaps, they hide. They seem to want you, dear reader, to peal them apart and slip your finger's gaze into their pretty jaws.
Some drawings are modern. Some pages full of words and others seem to float with simple lines, spare words, in a space that is made for both the visual, the sound, and the tap tap tap of the verse, the heartbeat of the sky.
Other pages seem crowned, like a womb at 40 weeks. Ready to burst with life and words. Your eyes start to play with you. You see the pictures dance. You keep reading the same lines again and again. Lost in a sea of beauty, an ocean of vitality, an amniotic sac of life.
This is one of those books that allows you to flit and fly from page to page; sink into the folds or fly back into your chair or bed. It almost feels like a drug. You, lovely reader, are lifted from the folio to your own dreams. You are possessed by your own images.
Sometimes it even gets to be too much. You pull back. It isn't a bad trip. It is just too rich. A chocolate that demands a pause, a honey that ambers in the cold. You, sweet book nerd, need time to drink it. You need time to absorb the poem and the visuals.
After you finish it, you end up spending more money on the illustrated [b:Heart of Darkness|19013972|Heart of Darkness|Matt Kish|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1408937026s/19013972.jpg|27037018] by Matt Kish but you don't stop there. You also spend a bunch of money buying a hardcover version of Matt Kish's amazing [b:Moby-Dick in Pictures: One Drawing for Every Page|10859527|Moby-Dick in Pictures One Drawing for Every Page|Matt Kish|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348975760s/10859527.jpg|15774483].
How will you explain these charges to your wife, crazy, compulsive book buyer? The $18.45 for Heart of Darkness she will understand, but you just spent over $200 for a 1st edition Matt Kish Moby-Dick. What whale are you hunting now?
You did it. Didn't you? Don't deny now. You have gone too far to stop. You are already down the rabbit hole. You also bought Zak Smith's [b:Pictures Showing What Happens on Each Page of Thomas Pynchon's Novel Gravity's Rainbow|27194|Pictures Showing What Happens on Each Page of Thomas Pynchon's Novel Gravity's Rainbow|Zak Smith|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1390089959s/27194.jpg|27845]? Don't you feel smug? Yes, you spent less on this than the Moby-Dick, but ye gads son -- you have children to rear, to feed, to send to college. Thank God, gods, mothers and all that is HOLY you don't drink, or they would be writing about your yak purchase.
Go to bed. Sleep tight. Dream of spiders, bats, whales, and rivers; dream of poets, writers dead and writers hiding. Dream of art and fiction and the artists who dream big, draw daily, and produce such charming fetishes to your favorite books.
before a million universes.”
― Walt Whitman, Song of Myself
There are some books that are just MEANT to be illustrated. Where the poem seems part of the earth. Part of the poet. Part of the sky and the stars!
This book feels good. The binding is tight. The pages are thick. Even the cover contains multitudes. It is beautiful and rough. I rub it against my chin and it calms me. But wait. I haven't even opened the book yet.
I see Whitman as a Giant American; a giant American sphinx. Composed with grass. Posed with grass. Posed. Winged. Ready to fly.
I start to flip through pages. The pages seem to grab each other in prayer. Or perhaps, they hide. They seem to want you, dear reader, to peal them apart and slip your finger's gaze into their pretty jaws.
Some drawings are modern. Some pages full of words and others seem to float with simple lines, spare words, in a space that is made for both the visual, the sound, and the tap tap tap of the verse, the heartbeat of the sky.
Other pages seem crowned, like a womb at 40 weeks. Ready to burst with life and words. Your eyes start to play with you. You see the pictures dance. You keep reading the same lines again and again. Lost in a sea of beauty, an ocean of vitality, an amniotic sac of life.
This is one of those books that allows you to flit and fly from page to page; sink into the folds or fly back into your chair or bed. It almost feels like a drug. You, lovely reader, are lifted from the folio to your own dreams. You are possessed by your own images.
Sometimes it even gets to be too much. You pull back. It isn't a bad trip. It is just too rich. A chocolate that demands a pause, a honey that ambers in the cold. You, sweet book nerd, need time to drink it. You need time to absorb the poem and the visuals.
After you finish it, you end up spending more money on the illustrated [b:Heart of Darkness|19013972|Heart of Darkness|Matt Kish|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1408937026s/19013972.jpg|27037018] by Matt Kish but you don't stop there. You also spend a bunch of money buying a hardcover version of Matt Kish's amazing [b:Moby-Dick in Pictures: One Drawing for Every Page|10859527|Moby-Dick in Pictures One Drawing for Every Page|Matt Kish|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348975760s/10859527.jpg|15774483].
How will you explain these charges to your wife, crazy, compulsive book buyer? The $18.45 for Heart of Darkness she will understand, but you just spent over $200 for a 1st edition Matt Kish Moby-Dick. What whale are you hunting now?
You did it. Didn't you? Don't deny now. You have gone too far to stop. You are already down the rabbit hole. You also bought Zak Smith's [b:Pictures Showing What Happens on Each Page of Thomas Pynchon's Novel Gravity's Rainbow|27194|Pictures Showing What Happens on Each Page of Thomas Pynchon's Novel Gravity's Rainbow|Zak Smith|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1390089959s/27194.jpg|27845]? Don't you feel smug? Yes, you spent less on this than the Moby-Dick, but ye gads son -- you have children to rear, to feed, to send to college. Thank God, gods, mothers and all that is HOLY you don't drink, or they would be writing about your yak purchase.
Go to bed. Sleep tight. Dream of spiders, bats, whales, and rivers; dream of poets, writers dead and writers hiding. Dream of art and fiction and the artists who dream big, draw daily, and produce such charming fetishes to your favorite books.
itstoocliche's review
5.0
A beautiful, beautiful interpretation of one of my favorite poems! You should certainly read the poem before attempting to weave your way through the labyrinthine topsy-turvy twists and turns of Allen Crawford's artistic interpretations.
I honestly found it to be a delight and exuberant take on Whitman
I honestly found it to be a delight and exuberant take on Whitman
olivespring's review
3.0
I wanted to love this book- it's so beautiful, and I've never read Song of Myself! But the formatting is way too hard to read. I still give it three stars for its beauty.
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